MONTHLY OVERVIEW ON HUMAN RIGHTS – April, 2025

In early April, the Gender Equality Platform and the Network for Protection against Discrimination strongly criticized the amendments and additions to the Law on Primary Education and the Law on Textbooks for Primary and Secondary Education. These changes legalize discrimination and violence, while also removing crucial topics related to sexual and reproductive health and gender equality. These legal amendments were passed without consulting young people or the professional community, contradicting the needs of the youth. The Gender Equality Platform and the Network for Protection against Discrimination urged the President not to endorse these laws and called on the Government
and Parliament to reassess the education laws that negatively impact young people’s health. Furthermore, they requested an oversight hearing to address the challenges in enforcing the Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination before the Permanent Inquiry Commission for the Protection of Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights.

Despite these amendments being passed by Parliament, the Platform for Gender Equality and the Network for Protection against Discrimination publicly urged the President not to sign the decrees that amended the Law on Primary Education and the Law on Textbooks for Primary and Secondary Education. However, she proceeded to sign the decrees without initiating a debate.

On April 2, 2025, the 24th session of the Committee on Elections and Appointments took place in the
Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia. During this session, a draft decision was approved for the election of a member to the Commission for Prevention and Protection against Discrimination, less than 24 hours following a public debate session. The Committee suggested Vecko Zdraveski to the Assembly as a future commissioner for a five-year term. However, he is a party official and does not fulfill the selection criteria.

The Network for Protection against Discrimination called on the Assembly to dismiss this proposal and not vote for Zdraveski as a future CPPD member. The Network for Protection against Discrimination
stresses that electing this candidate to the CPPD neither serves human rights nor promotes equality and nondiscrimination, but rather harms them. The candidate’s interview, presentation, and particularly the responses to audience questions were deemed unsatisfactory by all standards expected for a member of the equality body. It was evident in the interview that the candidate lacked confidence in articulating certain grounds for discrimination, such as “sexual orientation” and “trans woman”.